Food security: Senegal to receive $22 million payout for drought

The money will cover losses from crop failure following poor rainfall. [File, Reuters]

Senegal will receive a minimum payout of US$22m from African Risk Capacity Insurance Limited (ARC Ltd) to cover losses from crop failure following poor rainfall. The payout is expected to happen two weeks following the end of the farming season, which is set for November 21, 2019.

Of the US$22 million, Senegal will receive a minimum amount of US$12million; while the Start Network, a consortium of international NGOs that collaborates with the Government, will receive the balance of U$10million.

This is in line with an existing policy signed with Senegal for early and expedited response in the event of a drought.

As early as August 2019, Africa RiskView, the software underpinning the ARC parametric model, alerted the government to the irregular and insufficient rainfall in the Western regions of the country and warned that a minimum of 964, 000 people will be affected by the rainfall deficit.

The ARC Group noted that Senegal has been exemplary in participating in various ARC risk pools since 2014 aimed at building resilience and reduce vulnerability against natural disasters in Africa.

“The vision of African Union in establishing ARC was to present a powerful value proposition that will help member States better understand their disaster risk profiles, access viable early warning tools, and develop a preparedness plan for protecting livelihoods of their vulnerable population from predictable natural disasters”, said ARC Agency Director General ASG Mohamed Beavogui.

Abdoulaye Noba, Director of Civil Protection, and Programme Supervisor for the Government of Senegal’s work with ARC acknowledged the transparency and promptness of payouts.

“We were among the first countries to embrace the ARC mechanism for the protection of our people from recurring droughts,” he said. The expected payout will bring the total disbursements by ARC Ltd to Senegal to US$ 38 million since 2014.